First of all, I would like to say that I love God, that I am grateful for the Salvation provided for me by the shedding of blood of the Sacrificial Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. I realize that this Salvation is a gift, undeserved by anyone, yet given freely and sufficient for ALL.God has seen fit to allow us to choose how and where we serve Him, and we have chosen to be Baptists. This is something that our parents could not impose upon us through infant baptism.
It is our choice, freely made, hopefully by the study of Scripture and the convicting of the Spirit of God.
As I said before, I cringe when I read or hear IBFer criticized and I feel even worse when the attacks are somewhat valid. So here are a few things that I propose will help us show the true nature of a Baptist.
1. We are a zealous group! We hate anything that comes near being sin. That is good, but sometimes that makes us seem unloving towards those who disagree. We must learn that loving kindness , meekness, and courtesy must always be included in our actions. If in being zealous, we become hateful, we are wrong.
2. We must be consistent in our behaviour. Especially inside our homes. If you want to influence others, there is no better advertisement than the attitudes of your children. Believe me, people can pick up on "bad vibes" from your kids, no matter how well-behaved they might be. Continue reading your Bible everyday, then put it into practice!
3. Smile more! Love your enemies! (BTW, liberals are not our enemies) Don't fight with the brethren in your own Church. Fight sin and the flesh, not people. If you can fight sin in your own life and win, you will be a better testimony to the saved and unsaved alike.
4. Avoid correcting others. There are people in my world who I must correct occasionaly like my kids and the ladies and girls in my Church, and that is because I am the Pastor's wife and the "aged woman" in my congregation. But if everybody started correcting everybody else, chaos would reign. If you see a problem in someone else, take it to God and ask for wisdom.
Just a few thoughts, feel free to add more.
Blessings and Joy to you.
R
9 comments:
Very good post Sis!! This needs to be preached and taught more in our IFB movement. So many IFB get so high and mighty in their beliefs and thinking that they are better than those in other beliefs. We may live and believe the closest to what the Word of God teaches but that does not make us any better than anyone else. This simply is not true. We are teach others the error of their ways but not come across as "holier than thou". We are to love others as Christ loves them and He did not come across in that way when He was teaching. He came across with compassion and not hatred. It breaks my heart when I hear preachers preaching Christ's message of salvation and sin in hate. And we have alot in our movement that do that. I guess I got on a soapbox of sorts here...forgive me. But you brought out some very important points and I just wanted to back you up on them!!
Thank you, Sis.Julie,
I knew you'd agree. Our faces should reflect our doctrine!
Blessings,
R
Oh Rhonda - I didn't know you were IFB! We're non-denominational. Thanks for your post, it all boils down to love I believe, love for God and love for others. If we get this right then we're on the right track. Because those who love God obey Him and those who love their neighbours and their enemies show the love of God which is everlasting, protecting and totally undeserved - and yet He died for us. There is no greater love than to die for our friends (paraphrase of Jesus' words) and I think that this not only referred to Jesus' death on the cross but also our death to self.
Great post Rhonda.
You didn't know I was IFB? I must not be doing something right! ;)
Yes, Jesus said that Loving God and loving your neighbor is what all the Law and the Prophets is really about.
But, true love is doing what is right for your neighbor. You were right in warning someone who so blatantly rejects God. We should all be so courageous. And kind.
Happy Lord's day to you!
R
I found you on Tori's comments. I read down a ways and found some amazing coincidences. I am Nazarene, which also is misunderstood often! I love missions, and thought perhaps I'd be a missionary. But I am here promoting missions to the local and district church constantly instead.
I have written a blog on my love of solitude and also on my love of reading, Anne of Green Gables being one of the ones I talked about. Check it out, if you have time - the one on solitude was a while back and the one on reading was just this week-end.
Excellent Rhonda! You always seem to be able to express my thoughts but you do it so succinctly.....I tend to be too wordy! LOL (o;
Good Post Rhonda! We go to a Southern Baptist church. The one I was raised in. Although I don't like to be labeled by my denomination. Many things that we believe the other members of our church do not. They tend to be more liberal or "old time religion ritualists" as I call them.
Ditto to what Mrs. B said... I'm wordy, too! LOL ;o) Fantastic post, Rhonda! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this; these points are good for us IFBers to remember. :)
Great post Rhonda!! Been a little quilty of a few of those here and there. Thanks for the reminders!
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